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“I know it seems strange,” he explains, “but when I was unconscious something happened to me. It was as if I travelled to another world, and at times I was visited in this world by a healer. She says you will know who she is. She gave me a message to relay to you.” He pauses and scrutinises my face with those ice blue eyes, and something passes between us when he sees the moment of recognition in mine.

The moment I realise he is speaking of the healer who visited me in my chambers the night before the Harvesting.

“Go on,” I urge him, an unspoken understanding existing between us, “tell me the message.”

He releases a small sigh of relief, as if he’d been nervous to mention the healer.

“She said to warn you regarding forces who are working against you. She said to press ahead with your plan in relation to the prince, but to be aware this will awaken an even more powerful enemy than those who currently plot against you.”

A feeling of ice running through my veins slithers through me at his words and I find myself holding my breath, unable to form a response.

I look at the shadows dancing on the far wall and wonder what this message means.

Who could be a greater enemy than Greythorne?

I feel a chill at my back, as if a dark presence is standing there and I shudder.

Then I feel a warmth on my hand and look down to find Aaran’s large hand on mine.

My head jolts up in surprise and I find him looking at me with warmth and understanding in those diamond blue eyes.

“She also said to believe in yourself and embrace your power and you will find new allies.”

These last words confuse and intrigue me.

On the one hand, I can't imagine who or where these new allies might be, but on the other, I'm intrigued as to the possibilities.

I look down at his hand as I feel the warmth from it moving into my mine and along my arm, helping to dispel the feeling of ice in my veins.

His knuckles still bear the marks of where he tried to defend himself that night in the forest, but his hands are strong and his long fingers curl themselves around mine and, not for the first time since I came into this room, I feel a strange connection to him.

“I wish to be the first of those allies, Queen Elinor, to pledge my fealty and protection to you and Prince Ronan. I will be forever grateful to you for saving my life that night in the Dark Forest when I hovered so close to death at the hands of Prince Mikil.”

Again, I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “You remember everything about that night?”

“Yes.”

“Then I must ask, when you see the prince, to please not reveal the part his brother played in your injuries.”

He nods. “I understand.”

I’m more than a little taken aback by his response. “You do?”

“Yes. I know the prince and how much he cares for me and Barra.

And I know exactly what he would do to the men who caused our injuries, regardless of whether one of those men was his brother or not.

I'm aware of your plan to make him your king and the time-sensitive nature of that plan. I understand the last thing you need at this moment in time is the prince making his way back to Ellerban to seek justice for Barra and me.”

I shake my head. “But how can you know all these things and my plan? Only those closest to me, my most trusted Khaleeni, know I intend to make the prince my king.”

“I don't know how to explain it, Queen Elinor,” he says in a low voice, as if he himself is at a loss as to how he knows these things, “but when I was unconscious I developed an awareness. It was as if I could pick up on certain things happening around me.”

He squeezes my hand. “I apologise. I don’t mean to cause you any discomfort. Please know, I will serve you with all the honour and integrity with which I have served Prince Ronan. I pledge you my body, mind and abilities to whatever purpose you wish.”

When he mentions his body, the warmth transferring from his hand to mine turns into a molten heat and moves along my veins like a hidden promise. Silence sits between us like a gaping hole waiting to be filled, but I instinctively know he is aware of the effect his touch has upon me.

The first toll of the night bell sounds and he releases my hand. “Thank you for coming to see me, Queen Elinor, I know you must go now. The prince awaits. Please tell him I look forward to speaking with him on the morrow.”

I rise and find I am speechless. I don’t know what to say to someone who already knows my innermost secrets. I reach the door and turn to find those diamond blue eyes on me. “Goodnight,” I say in a subdued voice, unsure of the exchange that just took place and myself, “rest well.”

He doesn’t reply but gives me a contented smile as if he has achieved some task unknown to anybody but himself and as if he is the keeper of secrets yet to be revealed.

***

The final peal of the night bell sounds and I make my way along the queen’s passage to the prince. He greets me with a kiss filled with such breathtaking passion I’m soon falling into his arms with a need for him that’s so powerful it almost causes me alarm.

Sometime later, as I’m lying naked in his arms, my body sated from his touch, I tell the prince about my meeting with Aaran.

“So, he continues his speedy recovery from his injuries?” Prince Ronan asks.

“Yes,” I reply, “it’s quite remarkable. His face is practically fully healed and I can see what he looks like now.”

The prince smiles. “He's a handsome fellow, is he not?”

I'm unsure as to how to reply so I simply tell the truth. “Yes, he is most striking looking. However, if I'm being honest, I also found him a little unnerving.”

“Ah,” the prince exclaims, “his eyes?”

I look at him in surprise. “Yes, I felt as if he could see into my very soul.”

He gives a low chuckle. “If it's any consolation, you're not alone, he has that effect on most people.”

“He's so different looking to you and Barra and the other people I saw in Ellerban, is he from a different part of your realm?”

The prince pauses before replying, as if considering his response.

“In truth, no-one knows where he comes from.

I first came across him selling rabbits to the cooks in the castle kitchens when he was a young boy.

Back then he lived in the Dark Forest, and it took me some time to discover he didn't have any family and was fending for himself. I asked the Devotees to take him in and care for him, but by this time the wildness of the forest had become part of him and they found him challenging to deal with.”

“The Devotees?” I ask.

“Yes, the Devotees of the Goddess, women who remain unmarried and without children who devote their lives to the work of the Goddess. They typically care for the elderly, the ill and those without family such as Aaran, but the longest they could ever get him to stay with them was over the winter months. However, once the frost was gone from the ground he would disappear back into the Dark Forest, only reappearing to sell rabbits or, when he was older, deer to the castle kitchens.”

“So how did he come to be one of your most trusted men?”

“When he became older, he not only sold his kills to the castle but also his expertise as a tracker and hunter.

He quickly gained a formidable reputation and I asked him to join my army as one of my elite soldiers.

It's a decision I take pride in to this day. He is a superb warrior, but even more than that he has instincts and insight that are second to none.”

I think over his last few words and consider how Aaran feels those instincts and insights seem to have developed more during his recovery. “How so?” I ask. “How are his instincts different to yours and those of your other men?”

The prince’s eyes look distant as he answers, almost as if he is looking into the past. “Sharper, more honed. When it comes to tracking, Aaran is at one with the environment, a part of it. The rest of us are mere humans trying to interpret the wild with our limited human abilities, but he has animalistic instincts and is far ahead of us in this regard. He is the wild.”

The memory of Aaran’s intense gaze searing through me and the heat of his touch moving along my veins causes a shiver to run down my spine.

Of course, the prince notices. “Come now, Elinor,” he says in a deep reassuring voice as he pulls me closer, “I can assure you, you have nothing to fear from Aaran.”

I snuggle deeper into his arms, but as I feel myself drifting off into sleep I think how it wasn’t fear that caused the shiver along my spine.

No, it was an emotion of a different kind, and one I am becoming more familiar with the more I enjoy the prince’s touch and wonder how the touch of another would feel.